The BBC and the British animation industry

In 2009, the BBC and Blue Zoo studios created a report about the state of the UK animation industry Here. The report talks about how government tax breaks and subsidies for studios overseas, means largescale animation production in the UK "no longer makes economic sense."

Below is an extract from the animation community site, "Animation Forum West Midlands" summing up the report. Here.

"In Ireland, animation productions are able to benefit from a 28% tax break, whilst in France a 20% tax credit can be claimed for animation productions.

Although slightly alarmist in infering that the UK animation industry is 'dying', the news item didn't touch on the wider contexts behind why "the amount of animation produced in the UK has almost halved in the last five years." Other factors, such as CITV's large-scale, production budget cuts over the past decade, or the fact that "commercial budgets in the broadcast sector have been coming down for quite a long time anyway," have inevitably had a knock on effect on the volume of production in the UK, according to Andy Guest, Commercial Director of Birmingham animation studio, The CharacterShop.

Work on the feature film Sarila, some of which was due to be produced by The CharacterShop, is now due to be done in Mexico, whose government offer subsides to such productions. "We were going to do about 20% of the film, the lighting, rendering and compositing, but they're now going to get that done in Mexico where the Government will give subsidies and grants in order to attract work into the country," says Andy. "So now the film's going to be 60% Canada, 20% France, 20% Mexico and 0% UK."

The article definately provides food for thought for all those looking to find industry work in London and the rest of the UK.

Update

The Guardian reported yesterday that the BBC is setting up a new animation studio,in a location outside of London. Could this mean the outlook for the UK animation industry isn't as bleak as first thought? The choice to look outside of London for the studios location is an interesting one too, the article states:

"The BBC Vision Productions creative director, Pat Younge, is overseeing the initiative and expects to appoint a small development team of experienced animators and writers early in 2011. They will form the core of a new unit, which will grow as and when it wins commissions.

Younge said a feasibility study to find the best location for the animation unit was nearing completion, but it would be based outside London.

The head of BBC Vision production modernisation, Richard Williams, is conducting the study, and candidates include Bristol, where the presence of Aardman Animations – the independent producer of Wallace & Gromit – ensures a pool of cartoon expertise, the north west, Cardiff and other centres where there was a strong base, or colleges teaching students."